Suction cleaner



B. c. BEczKi-:RfI

SUCTION CLEANER Dec. 21, 1937.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. l0, 1936 m N n INVENTOR ATTORNEYDec.'21,1937. B BECKER 2,103,054

SUCTION CLEANER Filed Feb. 10,1936 I' 2 sheets-sheet 2 vl2 i [2b lINVENToR Bernard ecferl Y 4,4?- m M L Patented nee. 21,1937- OFFICE-sUcrloN cLEANEn L Bernard C. Becker, Canton, Ohio, assigner to TheHoover Company; North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio ApplicationFebruary 1o, 193s, serial Ne. 63,131

c claims. A (ci. ls-ls) 'I'his invention relates to' improvements .insuc-4 tion cleaners and more particularly to Ysuction cleaners of theportable. handle maneuvered type and characterized by a wheeled casingsupporting a motor driven fan for creating the suction applied at thenozzle into which the dirt-laden air is drawn and thence through thexfan to be discharged into'a dust collecting bag.

The object ofthe invention-is to provide an improved construction anddesign for suction cleaners, embodying the assembly of the bottom plateforming the nozzle opening and the adja' cent supporting wheels into aunit pivotally mounted on the cleaner casing for bodily move` mentrelative thereto, and the pivotal mounting of said wheels on the bottomplate to permit their adjustment for varying the height of thenozzleabove the floor. p

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be describedin'connection with the accom-"- panyingjdrawings inwhich: Y

Figure 1--is a general view in side elevation of the suctioncleanerembodying the invention with portions broken away and shown insection;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the forward portion of the cleaner; v

Figure 3.is an enlarged detailed view of the latch member for the bottomplate as taken on line 3--3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detailview in vertical section through one endof the nozzle as taken on line II-.l'of Figure l;

o Figure 5`is`a view in vertical section taken on line v5 5 of Figure 2,showing the bottom platel and carrier wheel assembly swung downwardlyfrom the nozzle; .I f l Figure 6 is a perspective view of the bottomplate and carrier wheel assembly removed from the cleaner and Figure -7is a bottom plan view of thecleaner similar to that of Figure 2, butwith the bottom plate and carrier wheel assembly removed.

Referring to the cleaner in its general aspects, same comprises a casingI, generally cylindric in shape withv its axis extending horizontally.Integral with the [casing I and extending transversely across itsforward end, is the nozzle section 2 with its end portion extendedsomewhat beyond the ycasing I and having a downwardly facing opening orsuction mouth. l

The nozzle section 2 forms a chamber vsepararated from the main casing Iby a vertical wall 2a, the space immediately behind this wall being openthroughout substantially one-half the bot-l tom of the casing I, asclearlyvshown ,in Figures `2 and 7; the other half forming a chamber orpassage I a extending rearwardly from the right vhard end portion lofthe nozzle chamber and including the fan chamber ,4 and exhaust passage5 terminating in a rearwardly opening flanged 5 outlet connection 5a towhichva dust collecting bag 6 is attached.

- The motor I is mounted lengthwise ofthe casing I with 'its axishorizontal and slightly eccentric to the axis of the casing. At one endof the 10 motor is the fan 8, mounted directly on an extension of thearmature shaft of the motor, the fan being enclosed within the fanchamber I, forming a part of the front to rearv extending j passage Iaof the casing I, while the major por- 15 tion of the motor is exp'osedthrough the open bottom thereof.

Formed integral with the casing I and located on opposite sides thereofare laterally project-- ing housings 9 and IIJ extending forwardly and20 downwardly with a slight convergence and iinally merging with the endportions of the nozzle section 2.as clearly shown in Figure 1. Thesehousings or integral lateral extensions of the casf of lthe fan.

l'I'lie corresponding housing I0 on the opposite side of the casing. asshown in Figure 1 and on the left in, `Figure 7, provides a conduit fora 35 belt II engaging a drivepulley. IIa on the end lol? the'motorshaftand extending forwardly and engaging a rotary agitator `I2 extendinglength- 1 wise of the nozzle chamber. The agitatorIZ consists of acylindric metal lshell journalled on an 40 axle I3, which in turn issupported at its ends in brackets I4, III secured to the end walls 'ofthe" nozzle section 2, thesebrackets being so formed as to permit theagitatory to be removed .through the bottom of the nozzle foradjustments or re- 45 pairs. On' theI surface of the agitator I2 is apair of helically arranged projections or beater' bars I2a and a pair ofdiametrically opposed brushes I2b, neither ,of which need be describedin detail since the agitator per se has long been in .common use.However, it is to be noted that the cylindric body of the agitator isgrooved' at I2c to provide a pulley for the belt I I.

The cleaner issupported upon'wheels as already suggested. A par erwheels Is, ls suics n and wheels, there is fixed at each end of the axleably journalled on a bracket I5a attached or ilxed to the underside ofthe casing form a caster-like same, as clearly shown in Figure 6, hassome-4 what the appearance of a shallow pan increasing slightly in depthtransversely or from front to rear and with its bottom open to form asuction mouth surrounded by narrow lips which contact the carpet aroundthe opening. Extending from the upper rear edge of the body of thebottom plate is an extension I9 consisting largely of a pair ofchannel-like members I9a and I9b spaced inwardly a short distance fromeither end of the plate and having their side edges as well as theremaining edges of the extension I9 upturned to form shallow marginalflanges. And finally, as integral parts of the 'bottom plate I8 is apair of supporting arms 20, 20 whereby the same are hinged or pivotallysupported on the cleaner casing. These arms are preferably fiatblade-like members having their forward ends bent at right angles andfastened rigidly to the underside of the rearwardly projecting channelextensions I9a, I9b, as by rivets or spot welding and pivotally mountedat their rear ends on pivot' pins.

2I, 2| anchored in bosses 22, 22 adjacent the lower edge of the maincasing I and directly beneath the central axis thereof.

For all practical purposes the bottom plate I8- may be considered as aone piece sheet metal stamping, although in actual practice it would Abemade up of several part's assembled into a unit as clearly shown inFigures l or 5 and in accord-l ance with the accepted practice in sheetmetal working.

Now, as clearly shown in Figure 6, the wheel supporting axis extendsjust rearwardly of the extension I9. Referring to the means employed forcompleting the assembly of the bottom plate I1 an arm 23 extendingradially and horizontally rearwardly therefrom; these arms having theform of sheet metal straps looped around the axle at 23a and lockedthereto as by tongues I1a on the axle to prevent relative rotation. Atthe other end of the arms 23 are smaller loops 28h which engage pivotpins 24, 24 carried by the arms 20, 20' and extending laterally andoutwardly at right angles thereto adjacent their for- Ward ends.

By this mounting, the wheels with their axle I1 are capable of swingingbodily in an arc about s the coincident axes of the pivot pins 24, 24and toward and from the bottom plate, although the latter movement,`that is, in a downward direction, is resisted by a spring 25 (Figure 2)coiled about an extension 24a of one of the pivot pins 24, and havingone end looped around the axle I1 and the other end hooked over thebottom edge of the adjacent arm 20.

. The springA 25 thus acts constantly to press or force the wheels toswing bodily and toward the underside of the bottom plate as clearlyshown in Figure 1. However, the carrier wheels may be adjusted orshifted relative to the/bottom plate and. against the action of thespring 25 for the purpose of adjusting the heightk of the cleaner nozzlerelative to the floor level by the applicathe contacting edges of tionof a more or less standard arrangement of a nozzle height adjustingdevice (Figure 5).

This adjusting device consists primarily of a verltically adjustable rodor stem 28 projecting downwardly through the top wall of cleaner casingI Vfor 'contact with the axle I1 midway between its ends and a manuallyoperated adjusting knob 21 mounted on the -upper end of the stem, whichis threaded so that -in turning the knob in one direction or the otherthe stemis shifted endwise in a corresponding direction, either forcingthe wheels downwardly .and against the tension of the spring 25 orallowing the wheels to retract ina bracket 29 mounted on the yrear faceof the wal1'2a at-the back of the nozzle chamber, the stem 26 having akeyway 26avengaged by a key 29a in the opening in the bracket 29 throughwhich the stem extends, to prevent the rotation of the latter.

Now, since the bottom plate is capable of being swung bodily downwardfrom its normal position in contact withthe under side of the casl ingI', it is necessary to seal the -contacting edges against air leakage.Thus the upstanding flanges 5 surrounding the end and front edges of thebottom plate I8 are covered and enclosed by a sealing strip 30preferably of rubber and fashioned in U-shape. However, the flangededges of the rearwardly extended portion I9 of the bottom plate,including the two channel shaped rearward projections I9a and I9b, arenot covered with rubber sealing strips but, as clearly shown in Figure7, the bottom edgesof vertical wall 2a conforms exactly .with flangededges on the plate and the former are covered with strips 3l of rubber.In other words. the sealing strips are carried vin part by the bottomplate and in part by the casing, the result being an air-tight sealaround the bottom plate and casing.

` Thus when the bottom plate is in closed position, the rearwardlyprojecting channel portions I9a, |917 thereof form the bottom wall ofthe two passages leading rearwardly andA upwardly on opposite sides ofthe casing I, the' passage at the left (in Figure 7') accommodating thedriving belt I I for the agitator I2, wherehaving a ared entrance)conveys the dir t laden as the passage at the right (somewhat wider andair from the nozzle chamber into fan chamber and from thence into theexhaust passage 5 and finally into the dust bag'8.

And lastly, it-is desirable to provide means for locking the bottomplate in a closed position,'this being accomplished by a latch member 32pivoted on a bracket 33 attached' to the inner face of the forward lipof the plate and, projecting through a longitudinal slot 33a, has anexternal finger piece 32a whlchlies flush in a recess in the bottomsurface of the cover plate as is clearly shown in Figure 3; Adjacent thepivot of the latch member is a locking'head 34 projecting from the innersurface of the front wall of the nozzle section 2 and engaged by thelatch member to hold the bottom plate in closed position. Thus, when itis desiredto release the bottom plate, the latch member 32 isswungdownwardly as shown in Figure 5. f

The advantage of the herein describedv bottom plate and carrier wheelassembly; aside from providing a convenientL means of access to theagitator and nozzle chamber, materially simpliiies the cleanerconstruction by utilizing the pivotally mounted bottom plate as thesupporting structure for the carrier wheels-.which are in turn plvotallymounted to cooperate withy the.

nozzle height adJusting device.

Having disclosed the preferred embodiment of the invention I claim as myinvention:

1. lIn a suction cleaner, the combination of a casing having a Inozzleextending transversely thereof and open-atits bottom, a plate adapted ,lto seat over the opening to said nozzle and slotted to form a suctionmouth, 4said plate having arms extending rearwardly and plvotallyconnected with said casing whereby saidv plate vmay*` be swungdownwardly from its normal position, wheels for supporting ysaid casingincluding anaxlehaving arms extending radially therefrom Y .andplvotally, mounted -on said plate, tension means acting to retain saidaxle in a predete`rl mined position relative to saidplate' and means4mounted on said casingeand adapted to engage said axlefor shifting ,thesame bodily relative to Vsaid plate. f

2. In, a suction/"cleaner, Athe combination of a casing having a`n'ozzleextending transversely thereof and open at its bottom. a bottom plate`adapted to seat over the opening to said nozzle and adapted to formasuction mouthfsaid plate v having arms extending rearwardly andplvotally' connected to said casing whereby said plate may be swungdownwardly 'from itsnormal position,`

wheels. supporting said casing including an axle extending transverselythereof and rearwardly\ of said nozzle, said axle having radiallydisposed arms plvotally mounted onsaid bottom plate.

supporting arms, tensionl meansactlng-to force said axle towardvsa-idgl'alate and means mounted o'n said casing and operative. toshift-'said axlev and wheels bodily` fromfsaidbottom plate and againstthe tension ofsaid'spring.

3. In .a suction cleaner, the combination-Volga casing having' a'downwardly opening nozzlel chamber, a bottom plate 'normally adapted"to lit over the opening o t said nonne chamber isoform 4. In a suctioncleaner, the combination of a casing having Aa vdownwardly openingnozzle chamber, a bottom' plate extending over the opening 'of saidnozzle chamber and having a slotted portion forming the suction mouththerethe latter in its normalvv bf, saidplate having arms extendingrearwardly and plvotally connected tosid casing, brackets plvotally'mounted onf said bottom plate, wheels.

`.'ournalled at the free ends of said bracket, and

means carried by said casing for adjusting said` lwheels vertically withrespect'to said casing. 5. In a suction cleaner, the combination of acasing-having anozzle chamber, a bottom plate having a portion extendingover said nozzle chamber and rearwardly extending arms pivot- .allyconnected to \said casing, an axle extending transversely beneath -saidbottom plate -rearwardly of said nozzle chamber, wheels Journalled atthe free ends of said axle,` and axle supporting brackets plvotallymounted on said bottom Vplate'a'djfaceut the pivoted ends of saidarm,and

' .means for swinging said wheel supporting axle and bracketsbodily'with respect to said bottom pme.

6. Ina-suction cleaner, the combination of a casing lhaving a downwardlyfacing .no le chamber, a bottom plate forming the suct on mouth of4 saidnozzle chamber and havin rearwardly extending arms plvotally connectewith said'oasin'g, an' axle having radially extending i arms' plvotallymounted at their endstofsaidv bottom plate rearwardly of said nozzlechambe/r, wheels iournalled on said axle, and an adjusting screw carriedby said casing in vertical alignment with-said axle and adapted tocontact the same ,to ellect the vertical` adjustment of said wheels-relativ'eto said casing. 'T 3 naar:l o. anomalal l.'

